Adaptive M2M billing

Abstract

A computer implemented method, system and computer readable medium for use in machine to machine (M2M) or internet of Things (IoT) network including network devices are disclosed. The computer implemented method comprises providing a guaranteed price plan to a customer for a predetermined time period and learning about network device usage over the predetermined time period to provide a learned price plan. The computer implemented method also comprises determining a new price plan based on the learned price plan. Finally, the computer implemented method comprises utilizing the new price plan with customer's network devices.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A computer implemented method for use in machine to machine (M2M) or Internet of things (IoT) network including network devices; the method being performed by the M2M network comprising:
 providing an initial guaranteed price plan to a customer account for a plurality of network devices, associated with the customer account being used on the M2M/IoT network for a predetermined time period, wherein the M2M/IoT network includes a billing and analytics system; 
 receiving data input from one or more network elements that interact with the plurality of network devices via at least one base station controller by the billing and analytics system; 
 receiving usage information for the plurality of network devices being used on the M2M/IoT network over the predetermined time period from the billing and analytics system; 
 providing a learned price plan for, at least, the customer account associated with the plurality of network devices being used on the M2M/IoT network, to the billing and analytics system; 
 wherein the billing and analytics system conducts processing to adaptively change the initial guaranteed price plan to the learned price plan based on the received usage information, to produce the learned price plan for any of: the customer account for a particular user, for a group of network devices within the customer account, a learned pooling policy within the customer account, or a combination thereof; and 
 implement the learned price plan by adaptively changing price based upon usage for the plurality of network devices used on the M2M/IoT network associated with the customer account. 
 
     
     
       2. The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more network elements when using 4G LTE network include any one or more of: Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW), Traffic Control Function (TCF), Authorization and Accounting server (AAA) and Network Firewall (FW). 
     
     
       3. The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more network elements when using 5G network include any one or more of: Charging Function (CHF), Traffic Control Function (TCF), and Network Firewall (FW). 
     
     
       4. The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , receiving the usage information and providing a learned price plan steps periodically to determine if the new price plan is still appropriate. 
     
     
       5. The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the predetermined time period is one to three months. 
     
     
       6. The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the network devices comprise any type of machine to machine (M2M) device, Internet of Things (IoT) device, appliance, terminal, remote device, user equipment or wireless asset. 
     
     
       7. The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein invoices and reports are produced for the customer based upon the usage of the one or more network devices. 
     
     
       8. The computer implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein a manual override of the learned values is provided under appropriate conditions. 
     
     
       9. A system for use in a machine to machine (M2M) or Internet of things (IoT) network, the system comprising:
 a price plan system, comprising at least one processor and a memory, wherein the price plan system is configured to provide an initial guaranteed price plan to customer account for a plurality of network devices being used on a machine to machine (M2M) of Internet of Things (IoT) network associated with the customer account for a predetermined time period; and 
 a billing and analytics system comprising at least one processor, and a learning database, wherein the billing and analytics system is configured to:
 receive usage information for a plurality of network devices that interact with the one or more network elements being used on the M2M/IoT network via at least one base station controller over a predetermined time period, 
 conduct processing to adaptively change the initial guaranteed price plan based on the received usage information, to provide a learned price plan for the customer account associated with the plurality of network devices being used on the M2M/IoT network; 
 wherein the learned price plan is for any of: the customer account for a particular user, for a group of network devices within the customer account, a learned pooling policy within the customer account, or a combination thereof; 
 
 transmit the learned price plan to the price plan system; and
 implement the learned price plan by adaptively changing price based upon usage for the plurality of network devices being used on the M2M/IoT network associated with the customer account. 
 
 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more network elements when using 4G LTE network include any one or more of: Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW), Traffic Control Function (TCF), Authorization and Accounting server (AAA) and Network Firewall (FW). 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more network elements when using 5G network include any one or more of: Charging Function (CHF), Traffic Control Function (TCF), and Network Firewall (FW). 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 9 , repeating the receiving the usage information and providing a learned price plan steps periodically to determine if the new price plan is still appropriate. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the predetermined time period is one to three months. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the network devices comprise any type of machine to machine (M2M) device, Internet of Things (IoT) device, appliance, terminal, remote device, user equipment, or wireless asset. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the billing and analytics system produces and reports for the customer based upon the usage of the one or more network devices. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 9 , wherein a manual override of the learned values is provided to the price plan system under appropriate conditions. 
     
     
       17. A non-transitory computer readable medium that stores computer-executable instructions that, upon execution, cause one or more processors to perform operations by the machine to machine (M2M) or Internet of things (IoT) network for use in a M2M or IoT network including network devices, the operations comprising:
 providing an initial guaranteed price plan to a customer account for a plurality of network devices being used on the M2M/IoT network associated with the customer account for a predetermined time period, wherein the M2M/IoT network includes a billing and analytics system; 
 receiving data input from one or more network elements that interact with the plurality of network devices via at least one base station controller by the billing and analytics system; 
 receiving usage information for the plurality of network devices being used on the M2M/IoT network over the predetermined time period from the billing and analytics system; 
 providing a learned price plan for, at least, the customer account associated with the plurality of network devices being used on the M2M/IoT network, to the billing and analytics system;
 wherein the billing and analytics system conducts processing to adaptively change the initial guaranteed price plan to the learned price plan based on the received network devices usage information, to produce the learned price plan for any of: the customer account for a particular user, for a group of network devices within the customer account, a learned pooling policy within the customer account, or a combination thereof; and 
 
 implement the learned price plan by adaptively changing price based upon usage for the plurality of network devices used on the M2M/IoT network associated with the customer account. 
 
     
     
       18. The computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the one or more network elements when using 4G LTE network include any one or more of: Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW), Traffic Control Function (TCF), Authorization and Accounting server (AAA) and Network Firewall (FW). 
     
     
       19. The computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the one or more network elements when using 5G network include any one or more of: Charging Function (CHF), Traffic Control Function (TCF), and Network Firewall (FW). 
     
     
       20. The computer readable medium of  claim 17 , repeating the receiving the usage information and providing a learned price plan steps periodically to determine if the new price plan is still appropriate. 
     
     
       21. The computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the predetermined time period is one to three months. 
     
     
       22. The computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the network devices comprise any type of machine to machine (M2M) device, Internet of Things (IoT) device, appliance, terminal, remote device, user equipment, or wireless asset. 
     
     
       23. The computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein invoices and reports are produced for the customer based upon the usage of the one or more network devices. 
     
     
       24. The computer readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein a manual override of the learned values is provided under appropriate conditions.